If We Survive

 

 

If We Survive by Andrew Klavan it the second book I have read by him. When I was given the opportunity to review this book I was excited. I enjoyed Crazy Dangerous, and after reading If We Survive I wasn’t disappointed.  I really liked this book and found it was hard to put down. It is geared more toward younger readers, probably young teens. It is about a group of kids and a preacher who have travelled on a mission trip to Central America to help rebuild a school. Then they are caught in the middle of a revolution and face many struggles to try to make it home.

I love the way Andrew Klavan writes. His character, Will Peterson, is actually telling the story in first person. The characters are interesting and although I’m not sure that I can believe the storyline I suppose it is possible. Will Peterson is a high school boy telling this story. I can imagine a real teenager telling of his adventures adding excitement and adventure at every turn. I can see this book keeping the attention of the reader. I like the fact that even though it tells of some horrible acts of a revolution that it doesn’t go into gory details. Each person in the book has a different way of dealing with the tragedies around them just like in real life.  I would feel very comfortable recommending it to a teen. Any younger than that might not be a good idea, just because it does include some violence and death. As I said before it isn’t terribly graphic but there is mention of gunfire, blood and death.

I will pass this book along to my daughter and I think she will really enjoy it. It isn’t a gender specific book and would be good for either gender.  After recent events that have happened I will wait a while before giving it to her to read.

I was given this book by Thomas Nelson publishers in exchange for an honest review. I would definitely recommend it to especially teen readers who like action/adventure books.

                                                      

 

 

 

A Christmas Home

After previously reading A Dog Named Christmas I knew I wanted to read A Christmas Home.  A Christmas Home by Greg Kincaid is a sweet story that would probably be enjoyed most by people who love the Christmas TV movies and animals.

“Todd McCray, hero of a Dog Named Christmas, is now twenty-four years old and working at a local animal shelter, where he meets and quickly becomes best friend with Laura, a young volunteer.” Laura and Todd both have disabilities that help them understand each other. Todd trains a stray that has come to the shelter to be a service dog to help Laura with her physical disabilities. He loves his job at the animal shelter but the small town is struggling financially and announces they will have to close the shelter. Todd struggles to know what to do next.

 Todd is something of a prodigy when it comes to loving and training animals although it is evident that he struggles with learning disabilities. The story shows that we all have our strengths and weaknesses in life and if we follow our desires we can accomplish anything.  It a story that shows family and friends can pull together to get each other through obstacles of life.

A Christmas Home would be a good read for a younger reader, pre-teen or teen. It is easily read and the characters are easy to believe and identify with.  And as I said before if you love the Christmas made for TV movies you will love this book. As I read it I thought it would make a good movie for the holidays.

I would recommend this book to my friends. I received this book at no charge from booksneeze.com for an honest review. You can purchase this book here at Amazon.com.